The invention relates to a guide mechanism, an opening-closing mechanism of a covering member using the guide mechanism, and an interior equipment to be installed in a car using the opening-closing mechanism for securely and smoothly guiding an object to move along a predetermined path supported by a predetermined supporting base frame. The object includes a covering member for opening or closing an opening portion of various things or materials, interior equipment to be installed in a car, and various articles to be used by drawing out of a housing portion.
Conventionally, an interior equipment such as a cup-holder, an ashtray, and various types of glove compartment is installed in an instrument panel of an automobile. Also recently, a liquid crystal display panel of a car navigation system may be installed. In this case, a covering member is usually attached to the ashtray or the various types of the glove compartment. The covering member for protection may also be attached to the liquid crystal display panel of the car navigation system, as it is preferred that the panel is protected with the covering member when the system is not used.
In this case, when the covering member is opened and the glove compartment and the car navigation system are used, the opened covering member sometimes becomes an obstacle. Especially in the case of the liquid crystal display panel of the car navigation system, the covering member may block the display panel. Additionally, the liquid crystal display panel of the car navigation system is used in a state that the covering member is opened for a long time, so that it is preferred that the opened covering member is stored into the instrument panel. Further, the cup holder is generally housed in the instrument panel, and the cup holder is drawn out of the instrument panel when used. As for the various ashtrays and grove compartments, they are drawn out of the instrument panel in the same manner when used.
In the opening-closing operation mechanism of the above-stated covering members and the drawing operation mechanism of the glove compartment, ashtray, cup holder or the like, the covering member or the like is guided along a predetermined path by inserting guide projections provided in an object to slide in guide grooves provided in a supporting base frame.
For example, in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 11-20552, as shown in FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B), a guide mechanism for guiding the opening-closing operation of a covering member c of a central console box has been disclosed. In the guide mechanism, the covering member c is guided to turn and slide in a vertical direction at the opening-direction rotation limit by inserting guide projections e1, e2 into guide grooves b1, b2 to slide therethrough, so that the covering member c is opened or closed and the opened covering member c is housed in the central console box.
More specifically, in the guide mechanism shown in FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B), two guide grooves b1, b2 are formed parallel to a vertical direction on both side surfaces of a box-type main frame a, and a circular arc connecting groove b3 for connecting both guide grooves b1, b2 is formed at upper portions of both guide grooves b1, b2. Tongue shaped holding members d are provided at both side edges of one end of the covering member c, respectively, and two guide projections e1, e2 are provided in the respective holding members d. The guide projections e1, e2 are inserted into the guide grooves b1, b2 to slide, thereby attaching the covering member c to the box-type main frame a.
In the guide mechanism, as shown in FIG. 7(A), the covering member c is in a closed state where both guide projections e1, e2 are positioned in one guide groove b1. When the covering member c is opened, as shown by a dot line c1 in FIG. 7(A), the covering member c is rotated around the guide projection e1 so that the front end of the covering member c is lifted. At this time, when the other guide projection e2 enters the connecting groove b3 and then the covering member c is rotated to be located in the substantially vertical direction, as shown by a dot line c2 in FIG. 7(A), the opening of the box-type main frame a is completely opened. At this time, the other guide projection e2 is moved to the upper end of the other guide groove b2, so that both guide projections e1, e2 are positioned in the guide grooves b1, b2, respectively. Then, when the covering member c is pressed downward, both guide projections e1, e2 slide downward through both guide grooves b1, b2, respectively, and the covering member c slides downward along one side surface of the box-type main frame to be housed, as shown by a dot line c3.
Also, in case that the covering member c is closed from the state as shown by the dot line c3, both guide projections e1, e2 slide upward through both guide grooves b1, b2 by lifting the covering member c, so that the covering member c is drawn upward as shown by the dot line c2. When both guide projections e1, e2 reach the upper ends of the both guide grooves b1, b2, respectively, the covering member c is rotated around one guide projection e1 in the closing direction. At this time, the other guide projection e2 enters the connecting groove b3 from the guide groove b2, and is moved to the guide groove b1 through the connecting groove b3, so that the covering member c is completely closed as shown by a solid line as shown in FIG. 7(A). At this time, both guide projections e1, e2 are positioned in one guide groove b1.
However, this conventional opening-closing mechanism tends to wobble, or create large sliding resistance, thereby making it difficult to open the covering member c smoothly.
In other words, as described above, when the covering member c is guided along a predetermined path by sliding the guide projections e1, e2 in the guide grooves b1, b2, generally a guide mechanism includes guide grooves b1, b2 corresponding to a desired operation path formed on the box-type main frame a as a supporting base frame and the guide projections e1, e2 inserted therein as shown in FIG. 7(B). In this case, in order to smoothly slide the guide projections e1, e2, front ends of the guide projections e1, e2 are arranged not to contact bottom surfaces of the guide grooves b1, b2. Further, diameters of the guide projections e1, e2 are set to be slightly smaller than widths of the guide grooves b1, b2.
At this time, due to a dimensional accuracy, a space between the holding members d (only one holding member is shown in the drawing) disposed to hold the box-type main frame a does not always precisely match to a width of the box-type main frame a. A state that the holding member d is closely attached to the box-type main frame a is shown in FIG. 7(B). However, a space is often made between an inner surface of the holding member d and an outer surface of the box-type main frame a. In addition, since there is a clearance between the guide projections e1, e2 and the guide grooves b1, b2, the covering member c tends to wobble, thereby making the operation unstable.
In this case, to prevent the wobbling of the covering member c, a space between the holding members d is set slightly narrow so that the holding members d are slightly elastically deformed. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7(B), the holding members d are pressed against both side surfaces of the box-type main frame a provided with the guide grooves b1, b2, with a predetermined pressure p to thereby prevent the wobbling of the covering member c. However, in this case, the frictional resistance between both side surfaces of the box-type main frame a and the holding members becomes large, thereby making it difficult to move the covering member c smoothly.
In the conventional mechanism described above, the object (in this case the covering member c) moves in a complex manner such as rotating and sliding. Therefore, the wobble and the sliding resistance tend to be factors of preventing the smooth operation. In a case that the object (the covering member c) is automatically operated with a spring or the like, the wobble and the sliding resistance cause poor operations of the covering member c.
In view of the above defects, the present invention has been made, and an object of the invention is to provide a guide mechanism, an opening-closing mechanism of a covering member using the guide mechanism and an interior equipment to be installed in a car using the opening-closing mechanism, for securely and smoothly guiding an object supported by a supporting base frame to move along a predetermined path.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
In order to attain the above objects, in the present invention, in case that a moving member supported by a supporting base frame moves along a predetermined path with respect to the supporting base frame, a guide projection provided in the moving member is inserted in a guide groove provided in the supporting base frame and moves through the guide groove for guiding the moving member along the path. The guide groove is formed of a pair of thin wall members disposed with a predetermined space therebetween at a predetermined position of the supporting base frame. When the guide projection is in the guide groove, a front end of the guide projection does not contact a bottom surface of the guide groove, and the guide projection slides in a state that a base surface of the guide projection linearly contacts edges of the thin wall members constituting the guide groove.
That is, in the guide mechanism according to the present invention, the guide groove, through which the guide projection provided in the moving member slides, is formed of the pair of the thin wall members with a predetermined space therebetween on the supporting base frame. Accordingly, the space between the thin wall members becomes the guide groove. Thus, the base surface provided with the guide projection linearly contacts the edges of the thin wall members, so that the moving member can slide smoothly with a small sliding resistance.
Therefore, in order to prevent the wobbling of the moving member, even if a holding member provided with the guide projection is pressed against the supporting base frame provided with the guide grooves, the moving member can be smoothly guided without increasing the sliding resistance. Further, when the base surface provided with the guide projection is made of a material with a low sliding resistance, such as a fluorine resin, the friction can be more effectively reduced to thereby operate the moving member more smoothly.
Also, in addition to the guide mechanism, the present invention provides the following devices, i.e., an opening-closing mechanism using the guide mechanism and an interior equipment to be installed in a car using the opening-closing mechanism.
Namely, the invention includes the opening-closing mechanism wherein a sliding operation and a rotation operation of the covering member are guided by the guide mechanism of the invention described above. The opening-closing mechanism is provided in the supporting base frame having an opening portion to thereby open or close the opening portion thereof. The invention also includes an interior equipment to be installed in a car having a covering member for opening or closing an opening surface of a box-shape main frame, wherein the opening-closing operations of the covering member are guided by the guide mechanism of the present invention described above.